Notes from the Dye Pots

It was a good week at the pots! I’m happy to say I was able to dye 28 lots in 48 hours for a total of 120 pounds of yarn… and all the colors came out really well (except for Ruby)!

I started with very light colors and things were striking fast – the first day, I got about 10 die lots done in two hours! With our sequential method of dying I was able to use three pots for all 29 dye lots. Working my way from light colors like Beige, Mauve, Oak and Walnut, and moving into the dark colors like Indigo, Eggplant, Scarlet and Wintergreen.

Day 1 – prepping yarn

Day 1 – Aquamarine going into the pot

Day 1 – Aquamarine in the pot

Day 1 – Oak is done (clear) and the pot is ready for the next color

Day 1 – El Topo cooling

Day 1 – Light colors ready for rinse

Day (late night actually) 1 – Straightening damp yarn

Day 2 – The first days colors ready to be set out on polls to dry

Day 2 – Straightening yarn a little more before being put out to dry

Day 2 – Magenta fresh out of the pot

Day 2 – Wine and Magenta cooling

Day 2 – Turquoise and Caribbean cooling

Day 2 – Logwood fresh out of the pot

Day 2 – The reds ready for a rinse

Because of our dye method, our colors are very consistent, varying only slightly between dye lots. However, over the years, the company we get our dyes from will occasionally change a colors composition or discontinue a color. They are very helpful with helping us figure out substitutions when needed, but there is still a bit of trial and error before we are able to recreate the recipe needed for our true color. This is a very rare occurrence (only a handful of times over the last three decades), but it is does happen.

If you ever feel like the yarn you received is not close to color in the sample card, please let us know and we will find a solution. It can also be helpful to take a snippet from the skeins you receive and add it to your sample card (even staple it to the back), this way you can track any changes in color over time. Because our colors are so consistent, we do not have a different color card for every slight change in our recipes.

If you got a sample card from us several years ago and would like to know which colors are slightly different please email me at weaving@weavingsouthwest.com. I would be glad to send you replacement snippets of any of the colors that have changed (slightly) over the years. If you have sample cards from 20 years ago (we hear this more often than you might think), it may be time for a new set of cards all together! You can order them on our website or via phone, 575-758-0433.

I hope you enjoy this post and I would love to hear from! Please leave a comment with any feedback.

Best,
Joe

P.S. Our Ruby Rug Yarn has been throwing me through a loop. I will be dying I again tomorrow to get it right with our sample card. Wish me luck!